JK Rowling puts Harry Potter character to bed: 'We're done'

As J.K. Rowling celebrates the London opening of the stage play "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" — and its publication in script form — she's aware of the hope she's given fans of the blockbuster series for a new collection of stores.

But finally, she swears, no, really, Harry Potter the character is on the shelf.

"No. No," Rowling told Reuters. "He goes on a very big journey during these two plays and then, yeah, I think we're done. This is the next generation, you know. So, I'm thrilled to see it realized so beautifully but, no, Harry is done now."

"Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" will only live on as a play through December 2017, but its script will be available to fans on midnight July 31 — just in time for the birthday she shares with the character, who was portrayed over multiple films by Daniel Radcliffe.

The "Cursed Child" story picks up 19 years after where the last film in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," left off. Harry is a grown man, a father of three and an overburdened employee of the Ministry of Magic. His youngest son Albus never wanted to inherit his family's legacy, as he and his dad are confronted with darkness from unexpected places.

"(It) chimed perfectly with the material I had about the next generation and I could see it would work perfectly," Rowling said. "So, I never wanted to write another novel, but this will give the fans something special."

The film based on Rowling's Potter spinoff book "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" hits theaters November 18. It follows a British magizoologist named Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) on a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures catalogued in a mock textbook that was required reading for Hogwarts students.